Stourbridge Historical Society

About 20 members of the Society met outside Hereford Cathedral on a glorious summers day where two guides conducted us on a walking tour of the city.

Hereford Cathedral (Saint Mary the Virgin and Saint Ethelbert the King) has a thousand year history and over the centuries it has been subject to much development and restoration. The Cathedral now houses the Mappa Mundi and a chain library in a purpose built building adjacent to the Cathedral.

Our guide steered us through the gatehouse into the grounds of the Bishops Palace and pointed out some surviving timbers from the great hall of the palace. We ambled through the Cathedral Close and precincts with its fine buildings and emerged at Castle Green, an area of open space where the castle once stood but has since been completely demolished and no trace now remains apart from the banks of the moat.

Our guide related how the castle was the subject of attacks by the Welsh and its later involvement in the Civil War when the parliamentarians took the city. We saw how boats from the nearby River Wye brought in supplies for the castle when the river level allowed.

In the centre of Castle Green stands a monument to Admiral Lord Nelson who was associated with the City. We were then taken to a vantage point overlooking the River Wye and the Victoria Bridge commemorating the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1898.

Our guide then took us by the Castle Pool through to the town centre where we saw the Shire Hall, the Town Hall and St. Peter’s Church. We saw the impressive Old House, a timber framed Jacobean building which is now a museum. Our excellent guides brought us back to the City Centre where many of us headed for a much needed cup of tea before our journey back to Stourbridge.

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